“Incredible reliability, flexibility and power”

San Antonio’s (Texas, USA) new Tobin Center for the Performing Arts will open in September with a complement of grandMA2 consoles dedicated to both the H-E-B Performance Hall and the Carlos Alvarez Studio Theater.

Rising behind the façade of the former San Antonio Municipal Auditorium along downtown’s famed River Walk, the 1,750-seat multi-purpose venue will be the home of the San Antonio Symphony and other resident companies. It also plans to offer a diverse array of entertainment from comedy legend Bill Cosby and radio icon Garrison Keillor and “The Prairie Home Companion” to the Scottish Ballet’s production of “A Streetcar Named Desire.”

The four-level H-E-B Performance Hall is the largest of the Tobin Center’s performance spaces; the Carlos Alvarez Studio Theater is a black box-style space with multiple seating options. Dealer Texas Scenic and rep Roy Harline are providing the grandMA2 products.

A grandMA2 light console with grandMA2 replay unit will be located in each of the performance spaces. H-E-B Performance Hall will also be equipped with a MA NPU (Network Processing Unit) for multiple universes and MA’s top-of-the-line MA VPU plus (Video Processing Unit).

Tobin Center Technical Director Stefan De Wilde is no stranger to grandMA2 consoles. “I have purchased and specified many grandMA1 and grandMA2 consoles for Disney, Cirque du Soleil, the New World Symphony and the several universities,” says the Emmy-nominated lighting designer. “For three years ‘The Pageant of Peace,’ the National Christmas Tree Lighting in Washington, D.C., was illuminated by various grandMA consoles.”

De Wilde says grandMA2 is his “console of choice” for its “incredible reliability, flexibility and power. It efficiently manages vast quantities of information quickly and efficiently.”

He notes that longevity is a key factor for equipment selected for the Tobin Center. “The equipment must effectively operate for at least 10 years and meet every need for every show. We’re a world-class performing arts center and require world-class technology in every department. We also have an array of MA nodes throughout our lighting control system.”

Adding a MA VPU to the grandMA2 console in the H-E-B Performance Hall will enable projection cues for several Panasonic 20K projectors to be written into the unit’s cue plan for easy content management.

A.C.T Lighting will train Tobin Center staff on the grandMA2 consoles. “A.C.T sets the standard in the entertainment industry for technical service and support,” De Wilde reports. “Bob Gordon, Chris Patton, George Masek and Will Murphy are members of our All Star Team for the project. Their ongoing partnership and support, coupled with reliable and powerful technology is why I select A.C.T’s gear every time.”

A.C.T Lighting, Inc. is the exclusive distributor for MA Lighting in the USA and Canada.

Used Equipment:

<link http: www.malighting.com goto>2 x grandMA2 light
<link http: www.malighting.com goto>2 x grandMA2 replay unit
<link http: www.malighting.com goto>1 x MA VPU plus MK2 (Video Processing Unit)
<link http: www.malighting.com goto>1 x MA NPU (Network Processing Unit)